Finebaum: After Alabama's BCS championship, crimson is the only color that matters

View full size(Photo: Press-Register/Bill Starling; Illustration: Press-Register/Brian Lyman)Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain (25) Alabama offensive lineman Mike Johnson (78) Alabama running back Mark Ingram (22) Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus (57) and Alabama defensive back Javier Arenas (28) hold the BCS National Championship trophy after defeating Texas 37-21 at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 7, 2009. As I raced out of the Rose Bowl late Thursday night into a sea of crimson, I got the first clue. It continued as I rode down the Ventura Freeway past Burbank, Hollywood and Beverly Hills on the way to LAX, hearing hoops and hollers and the unremitting sound of "Roll Tide."

Just before midnight, navigating through the painstaking security at the airport, the smiles stayed wide and the crash of cheers continued. As the plane rode the jet stream over three times zones and finally arrived at dawn on Friday morning in Birmingham to a bone-chilling 14 degrees, the chant continued. Sky caps at the airport yelled "Roll Tide" and so did cashiers at the newsstand with the local paper proclaiming Alabama on top of the college football world -- again.

It continued at a gas station on Friday afternoon and a convenience store Friday night. It was the same at a Mexican restaurant the next day and at Wal-Mart later. That was where a man walked up to me, and said in a strained accent: "I am from Bangladesh. And I am now a Tide fan." Hanging on the front of his shopping buggy was a new crimson jersey for his young son and a Tide sweatshirt for him.

I saw a woman a moment later in $350 designer jeans matched with a crimson sweater bought off the rack at a sporting good store. I saw a gentleman in a wheelchair at a bus stop outside the store who yelled "Roll Tide" at me. Another man standing next to him asked me if the Tide could repeat.

And now, with a new week upon us, similar scenes are taking place in tall buildings in Birmingham and small ones in Brewton, in churches in Dauphin Island and grammar schools in Demopolis, at hot dog stands in Muscle Shoals and at Starbucks in Mountain Brook.

In fairness, I thought I had seen it all in a career of covering college football in this state. I was wrong. Race doesn't matter anymore, nor does creed. Your income level is irrelevant. Nor does it matter if you're driving a brand-new Beamer or a 10-year old Beetle.

Perhaps, it shouldn't be as surprising since we live in Facebook Nation, where often you've never met your new BFF. If you're an Alabama fan, then every Tide fan is your friend.

Nearly 50 years after Gov. George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door, the only color that matters in Alabama is crimson.

I've seen people hold the door for strangers. I've seen people at malls let another car ahead of them into a coveted parking space. Will it continue? Who know? But for now, it is wonderful.

Perhaps, no one stepped up the plate more in the past week than Bob Baumhower, the legendary Alabama All-American defensive lineman (and All-Pro with the Miami Dolphins) who runs a successful restaurant chain. On my radio show last week, I interviewed three guys (two of them high school coaches) from Phenix City. They drove 2,300 miles to California (33 hours driving time) without tickets to the game. One of Baumhower's restaurant managers in Daphne heard the interview and said something to the boss. Baumhower had four tickets and made a last-minute decision to watch his nephew play in Cincinnati (in the NFL wildcard game) instead of making the trip to Pasadena.

When the trio arrived at their motel Thursday morning in Pasadena, the tickets (free of charge) were waiting for them.

"My three-year old experienced Christmas last week, " said Roy Dixon, one of the three. "And to see his eyes light up is exactly what happened to me. He (Baumhower) just made a 40-year-old man smile with the same look."

In some respects, I think that best describes the entire Alabama Nation today. For some, winning a national championship is old hat. However, the younger generation has never experienced what their parents and grandparents used to take for granted.

There have been 12 other national championships in Alabama's storied football history. I can only speak personally to having covered one other -- 1992. From where I sit, No. 13 was the lucky charm. It's only been a few days. Yet, it has made crimson the only color that matters and "Roll Tide" has become the universal means of communication. And to think this ride may have only just begun.